Review of Terms of Service

[Alanna Tyler]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Terms of Service" by Craig W. Stanfill.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Terms of Service: Subject to Change Without Notice by Craig W. Stanfill is a novel set in the distant future depicting a society based in equality controlled by artificial intelligence (AIs). We follow Kim on her journey as an AI programmer where we see how society is controlled through non-differentiation of gender, the expulsion of “selfist” behaviors, and through generally outlawing the uniqueness of human beings. Despite having a coveted position at the Artificial Intelligence Company and working with AIs as had always been her dream, Kim feels disconnected and sad, and the use of Virtual Reality for almost all interactions compounds this.. This book is both about Kim’s personal journey looking for connection, and about extreme control of human behavior through enforcement of social norms to homogenize humanity.

I personally enjoyed Terms of Service very much. The use of the pronouns she/her/hers for every person in the book kept me guessing about Kim’s gender and generally added to the suspense of the story. Although written in a jovial manner it was also easy to relate Kim’s emotions and to become invested in her story. It was particularly interesting to see how much Kim craved a relationship with Shan but was torn by what was expected of her by society and her fear of losing social cohesion points. As a reader, I became emotionally invested in their relationship. Mr. Stanfill also makes the reader think about how much current society is pushing humanity as a whole in one direction and to ask the question “why?”.

Although at times the banter in the book seemed shallow, I think overall this was done on purpose by Mr. Stanfill to accentuate the surface level emotions expected of humans in the Unity, Community, and Equality (UCE) culture. It was not difficult to guess the moral lessons being implied in Terms of Service nor the direction the plot was heading in, but overall, I did not find any negative aspects of this book.

I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. Terms of Service has been professionally edited and has a well throughout plot and engaging characters. The book ends on a cliffhanger with a sequel promised that I will be looking forward to reading.

I would recommend this book to anyone from young adults on up who enjoy futuristic novels that give you a reason to be introspective about how we are living our lives today.

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Terms of Service
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